Automatic valve-closer for shipsj ventilators



No. 617,077. Patenfed Ian. 3, I899.

a. .1. N. CABPENTIEB.

AUTOMATIC VALVE CLOSER FUR SHIPS VENTILATOBS.

IApplication filed Feb. 16, 1898.)

(No Model.)

I WITNESSES I INVENTOR .7

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AUTOMATIC VALVE-CLOSER FOR SHIPS VENTILATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,077, dated January 3, 1899.

Application filed February 16, 1898. Serial No- 670 .4;61. (N0 model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGES J. N. OAR- PENTIER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Newport News, in the county of Warwick and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Valve-Closers for VentilationValves in Tater-Tight Compartments in Ships; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has relation to improvements in automatic valve-closers fortheventilationvalves in water-tight compartments of ships.

Battle-ships, as is well known, are divided into water-tight compartments in order that should one of the compartments be flooded with water by accident the water entering the damaged compartment shall not find its way into the adjacent compartments. All these compartments beingbelow theordinary waterline they must also be ventilated, and for that purpose there are openings made in the bulkheads or partitions between the compartments,through which openings air is forced by well-known means. These openings are provided with valves or closures which normally stand open to admit the air, but which must have means or mechanism associated therewith to automatically release the valve and close the opening when any one of the compartments may be flooded and thus prevent the incoming water from flowing into the adjoining compartment. These air-openings range from six to twenty-four inches square in size, and the mechanisms now employed to close the valves or closures, so far as I am aware, are uncertain in action,expensive in construction, and cumbersome in their application and disposition. To obviate these disadvantagesand provide a simple, efficient, and certainly-acting valve holding and releasing device, I have devised the mechanism hereinafter described, and which I have fully and clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the device or apparatus as operatively connected to the air valve or closure. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the complete device, partly in vertical central section.

A designates a bulkhead or partition erected between compartments in a ship, which partition is of the usual construction and of course water-tight, sealing the one compartment from the other.

B designates the air conduit or pipe, disposed at the upper portion of the bulkhead and reaching continuously through the compartments and provided with branch pipes 0, opening from the main conduit into each compartment, and D designates the valve chamber or casing interposed in the air-conduit B and containing the valve or closure, (not shown,)which is of the usual construction, adapted to completely close the valve-opening in the valve-chamber and seal the same water-tight against the access of water to or from adjoining compartments. This valve is mounted on a stem 1, having bearings in the walls of the valve chamberor casing, one end of the stem, as 2, being extended or lengthened, substantially as shown, and fixedly mounted on the stem is a lever 3, carrying on its longer arm a weight 4:. The other arm of the lever 3 when the valveis held open is engaged by a catch 5 on the end of a bent lever 6, fulcrumed to a suitable support 7 on the air-conduit or other proper point in the compartment. The other end of the lever 6 is pivotally connected to the upper end of the piston-rod which operates to release the catch 5.

It will be perceived from the foregoing description that the catch 5 when in engagement with the arm of the lever on the valvestem will hold the valve open and the air have free access through the conduit; but should the latch be disengaged the weight on the lever or arm 3 will immediately exert its force and turn the valve to close the air-pipe, and thus stop communication between the compartments and of course stop the flow of water finding access to the pipe through the branch pipe 0 opening into the compartment.

The foregoingdescribed elements and mech anism form no especial part of my invention, which is applicable for the operation of any valve or closure for the purposes intended Where the exigencies of like character may occur.

I now proceed to describe and specify the invention.

13 designates a suitable cylinder made of any proper metal and having connected to the upper head thereof a pipe '7, standing vertical and reaching to the desired height .in the compartment in which the apparatus is placed. In the cylinder F is fitted a piston-head 8, provided with a piston-rod 9, of less diameter than the pipe 7, in which it is disposed, to allow the air in the cylinder to escape up through the said pipe 7 when the piston-head is forced upward by the pressure on its under face. The piston-rod 9 is pivotally connected to the arm which holds the valve-operatin g means inactive and the valve open, and by reference to the drawings it will be seen when the piston is moved upward from its lowest position in. the cylinder that the latch-lever will be moved to disengage the catch on the arm which actuates the valve, and thus the weight will exert its force and close the valve. In the bottom of the cylinder is let a pipe 10, carrying on its free end a suitable joint-piece, as 11, to which is properly connected a vertically-disposed waterpipe 12, reaching upward a proper determined distance, but necessarily of less length than the vertical pipe 7, in order that the water shall run into the water-pipe 12 before it reaches the top of the pipe 7 and exert its force on the piston before an equilibrium can be produced by an overflow in the pipe '7.

If the device should be used to protect a single compartment, the top of the water-pipe may be simply left open, so that the water reaching thereto may find access to the pipe; but for the purpose of adapting the invention to the protection of adjacent compartments a pipe 13 is secured to the top of the water-pipe 12, one branch, as 14, of which opens into the adjoining compartment and the other opensinto the compartment in which the device is placed, as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. In the pipe 13 are mounted suitable valves 14 14 opening inward, as indicated in dotted lines, so that water from one direction will close the other valve and prevent its escape into the safe compartment, but will find entrance in the water-pipe and effectuate the operation of the piston and attain the desired result of closing the air-valve in the main-conduit pipe.

The relative lengths of the vertical pipes will be determined by the uses to which the device is to be put, the power to be exerted, and the height of the room or rooms to be protected.

It will be readily perceived that by the principle involved I can attain the desired and requisite pressure on the piston by varying the height of the water-pipe and the diameter of the cylinder to suit the object to be attained.

The operation is apparent. The water which enters the compartment, when it reaches a height to flow into the water-pipe and from thence into the cylinder, forces the piston upward to disengage the counterweight-arm, which being released turns the valve in the air-pipe and closes it. After the apparatus has served its purpose and the damaged compartment has been deprived of the water the water in the pipe 12 and the cylinder is drawn off by opening a valve or plug a in the end of the pipe 10.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A valve-closing device, comprising a cylinder provided with a vertical air-pipe, a piston in the cylinder having a rod connected to the valve to be operated, and a vertical water-pipe, shorter than the said air-pipe, leading into the lower end of the cylinder, whereby when the water enters the water-pipe the piston will be moved upward.

2. A valve-closer, comprising a cylinder provided with a vertical air-pipe, a piston in the cylinder having a rod loosely disposed in said air-pipe and connected to the valve-operating mechanism, and a vertical water-pipe shorter than the said air-pipe and opening into the lower end of the cylinder to actuate the piston.

3. A valve-closer, comprising a cylinder, a vertical air-pipe rising from the cylinder, a piston in the cylinder provided with a rod loosely disposed in the air-pipe and connected to the valve mechanism, a vertical waterpipe, shorter than the said air-pipe, and leading into the cylinder, a cross-pipe on the upper end of the water-pipe, and valves in the ends of the cross-pipe.

4. A valve-closer, comprising a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder, a piston-rod connected to the piston and to the valve mechanism, an air-pipe opening into one end of the cylinder to afford escape of air therefrom, and a vertical water-pipe in the other end of the cylinder shorter than the air-pipe, whereby when water is ad mittedto the water-pipe the piston will be moved to operate the valve mechanism. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGES J. N. GARPENTIER. Witnesses:

A. G. HEYLMUN, ALFRED S. WILLsoN. 

